


Bad For Business

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-16 05:39:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14157975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: Prompt Fill #30, Roll For It: Jailbreak! Edition for @pillarspromptsweekly I rolled Aloth and Sagani, Doemenels, and rope and poison for my elements.





	Bad For Business

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt Fill #30, Roll For It: Jailbreak! Edition for @pillarspromptsweekly I rolled Aloth and Sagani, Doemenels, and rope and poison for my elements.

 

It was good to see Defiance Bay was recovering from the riots, even if it was doing so slowly. It was also nice to be somewhere warmer than the fucking White March. A week since they left Stalwart and still the chill clung to her bones.

“Alright, so what all do we need to do while we’re here?” Tavi asked her group as they settled into one of the larger rooms at the Goose and Fox. “I don’t wanna think we’re done, get three hours out of the city, and then hear _Oh shit I forgot..._ ”

Her companions all chimed in with various things that needed doing--selling the shit they didn’t need, finishing up a few things they’d promised to help people with last time they were here, things they needed to buy.

“Alright, that’s a lot,” she muttered once they were all done, raking hair out of her face. “We should prob’ly split up, or we’ll be here a week. Keya, you, Kana, and Hiravias can stay here in Copperlane an’ handle the sellin’ and buyin’. I’ll take Aloth and Sagani an’ we’ll handle all those loose ends that need tyin’ up.”

Keya nodded. “Sure thing, Watcher.”

Tavi turned to say something to Sagani and found the dwarf grinning at her like Khellin’s cat the one and only time she’d gotten in the cream. “What?”

Sagani didn’t even try to look innocent. “I get to chaperone a date, huh? Make sure your kids behave yourselves?”

“It’s not a date!” Tavi argued, watching Aloth’s ears twitch and turn red. “If it was a date, all four of you would be goin’ to the fuckin’ market while we handled the loose ends, prob’ly place bets on whether or not I give him a hickey or some shit, an’ he’d be even more red than he is now.”

Aloth coughed almost sheepishly. “You’ve made your point, Tavi.”

She winced and sent him an apologetic smile.  “Sorry. Got carried away. Shall we?”

The two of them pretended not to notice the look Sagani sent Kana behind them as they exited the room.

xXx

Most of the loose ends they had to tie up were extremely easy, some simply stopping by the person who had initially asked to say they’d done as requested. The sun was starting towards setting as they made their way back to Copperlane by way of Brackenbury, since the route through First Fires was still clogged with debris from the animancy hearing riots. All three of them were wary, knowing Brackenbury had been the hardest hit and still wasn’t particularly safe. Given their heightened caution, it was a wonder Tavi didn’t simply eviscerate the raggedly clad woman who came bolting out of an alleyway behind the Charred Barrel and nearly ran into them.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” she panted, flicking a nervous glance at Tavi’s hands as they lingered near her sabre hilts. “I don’t mean no harm, I just... Are you the Watcher? From Caed Nua? I heard tales about you. Rumors. An’... well, my boy’s sick, see, some sorta soul ailment.” She ran shaking, boney hands through her ratty hair. “No one’s been able to do a blessed thing, but I was hopin’, since Watchers see souls an’ all... maybe you could help him?”

Tavi hesitated, but Aloth knew even before she nodded that of course she was going to help. The three of them followed the distraught woman through a maze of alleys and backstreets that made a sense of foreboding curl in Aloth’s gut. One Sagani shared, if her expression was anything to go by. And one that only increased when they reached the woman’s ramshackle house--close enough to Ondra’s Gift you could smell the salt water--and she pointed Tavi toward the stairs. “It’s prob’ly best if you go up alone. My Tristyn’s what might be called... excitable an’ I wouldn’t want him t’ hurt your friends. O-Or himself,” she added when Tavi opened her mouth to assure her they would be fine.

Tavi shot him a meaningful look. “Keep an ear out, city slicker?”

Aloth grabbed her wrist as she started to walk away. “Tavi, surely you realize this is likely a trap.”

“Oh, shit, yes,” Tavi snorted softly. “But on the chance it’s not, and there’s a kid who needs help, I’m goin’ up there. So keep an ear out, an’ if it is a trap, I’ll keep ‘em busy long enough for you an’ ‘Gani to make it up the stairs.” She kissed him on the cheek. “It’ll be fine.”

He had his doubts, but he did trust her, and so simply nodded and let go of her arm. Watching her climb the stairs was among the more anxious moments of his life, and he shook his head when the woman who’d brought them asked if he or Sagani wanted anything to drink. Itumaak didn’t seem too happy with the situation, either, shifting his weight from paw to paw and occasionally rumbling a low growl in his throat. Sagani nudged the fox with her foot, but he was undeterred.

Aloth knew the feeling.

There was a muffled thud from upstairs, followed by scuffling and then a loud, pained oath.

“ _Alo-_!” Tavi’s shout was cut off abruptly, but it was enough for Aloth and Sagani to both surge toward the steps.

The ragged woman moved to stop them, her earlier cringing attitude turned to steely determination, and Sagani ducked under her outstretched arm to continue pounding up the stairs. The narrowness of the staircase prevented Aloth from from doing the same, and even as he tried(because _Tavi needed him_ ), the woman murmured something under her breath and thrust one hand toward him. A shock of pain shot through his mind, strong enough he staggered back a pace before recovering.

There was more noise of scuffling from upstairs and then Sagani yelling, “Aloth, they’re runnin’ with her!” followed by the window banging loudly.

His heart pounded, and when the woman--clearly a cipher from the purple light flickering around her hands--started toward him, Aloth slammed his grimoire into her chest without even pausing to think. She went sprawling backwards at the surge of magical energy, and slammed into the wall at an awkward angle. Aloth was already out the door, nearly tripping over Itumaak as the fox dashed past to the streets. He didn’t really care about the woman one way or the other so long as she wasn’t slowing him down. He cocked his head once he reached the street, able to hear but not see Sagani pursuing whoever had Tavi.

 _The rooftops_ , it hit him. The houses in this part of the city were so close together, you could travel from roof to roof as easily as walking (or running) down the street.

“This way!” Sagani’s voice floated down from somewhere up and to the left. Itumaak yelped and started running. Aloth wasn’t far behind.

It was tricky keeping up while also not running into things, but Sagani hollered updates whenever there was a change in direction. And Itumaak had a good sense for staying on their trail, probably due to his bond with Sagani.

Suddenly there was a loud clatter from up ahead, simultaneous with Sagani’s breathless, “Comin’ down!” By the time Aloth and Itumaak reached the location of the clamor, the thugs were vanishing around a corner and Sagani was climbing down the last stretch. “Go, I’ll catch up!”

Aloth didn’t waste the breath to point out he’d had no intention of stopping. He knew she could manage and had no desire to lose their quarry.

Unfortunately, said quarry knew the city better than they did. All it took was one corner rounded too slowly, and neither the thugs nor Tavi were anywhere to be found.

Aloth spun in a circle, breathing hard and fighting the urge to swear. “Gods damn it, where....” The corner led to a dead end, a small cul de sac faced by three dingy houses, none of which showed any sign of life.

“Dunno,” Sagani admitted, surveying the houses as she caught her breath. Itumaak paused next to her, looking up expectantly. “You wouldn’t happen to have somethin’ of Tavi’s with you, would ya?”

Aloth shook his head. “Not on me, no.” He scowled at the houses. “We can’t just give up...”

Even as Sagani rested a comforting hand on his arm and started to say something encouraging, Itumaak’s ears stiffened, then lay back, and he took an alert posture toward the rightmost house. “Who said anything about givin’ up?” She tossed the fox a small piece of jerky as a reward, and they approached the house with a balance of caution and speed. As they opened the front door, there was a creaking slam from further into the house very much like a trapdoor.

Sagani picked up speed, arrow already nocked on her bow, and moved through the house with the swiftness of a practiced hunter. Aloth wasn’t far behind, but still by the time he caught up she was prying open the trapdoor in question.  The faint sound of hurried--but not running--footsteps reached their ears and they shared a look.

“They think they lost us,” Sagani whispered.

“Well, let’s try not to disabuse them of that too quickly,” Aloth murmured, tugging a scrap of fabric from the door’s hinges as they made their way down the stairs. “Maybe we can actually _catch_ them.”

Sagani grunted softly in agreement, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the fabric. “Ooh, gimme that.” Aloth handed it over without question and she let Itumaak sniff the part he hadn’t touched. The fox took off down the tunnel, paws near-silent against the dirt floor.

After several twists and turns and at least one fork that made Aloth very glad Sagani and Itumaak were there, never quite catching the group they pursued, there was the soft thud of feet up stairs. Aloth tensed, and would have picked up the pace, but Sagani put a hand on his arm. _Wait,_ she mouthed, gesturing for Itumaak to stay as well. The fox didn’t seem to be anymore thrilled than Aloth, but both hung back as Sagani disappeared around the last corner. The seconds ticked by interminably slow, feeling like hours each, before a low whistle reached their ears. Itumaak’s twitched and he bolted toward the sound. Figuring that was the plan, Aloth followed.

The house this trapdoor opened into smelled overwhelmingly like sweat and booze. Cheap booze. Aloth wrinkled his nose as he looked for Sagani. 

“Over here.” She was crouched by one of the windows, peering out along the path the kidnappers had taken. Before Aloth could protest stopping, the dwarf held up one hand, a small scrap of parchment between two fingers. “One of ‘em dropped this. Prob’ly the same one who tore his pocket on the first trapdoor. They ain’t goin’ anywhere.”

“How do you know?” Aloth demanded, fear of losing them twisting his gut as he read the short note.

_Medreth’s death is the last straw. The Watcher has cost us too much and it’s time she paid up. Take her to the madhouse. No one knows we use it yet, we’ll be undisturbed. A.D._

His head snapped up and he looked out the window at the building across the street. Or what was still standing of it. “Brackenbury Sanitarium.”

“Makes sense,” Sagani shrugged. “It had a reputation even before the riots, which I’m sure has only gotten worse since then, it’s almost completely destroyed above ground, has whole _wards_ of cells-”

“Your point is made,” Aloth cut her off, queasy at the thought of Tavi locked in one of those cells, or the cages that dominated some of the below ground offices. “How do we get her out?”

“Well, I mean...” Sagani sighed, studying the broken facade of the Sanitarium.  “First off, I don’t think we have time to get the others. She pissed off a shadow-dwelling crime family enough they’re actually willin’ to move against someone as known as she is. I don’t think they’ll be patient. And this won’t be easy.” She pointed to the sanitarium. “If you look close, you can see the lookouts in the front rooms. An’ I bet they aren’t the only ones. We’ll hafta circle around and come from the side or the back. Prob’ly best if we try for the upper floor, too.”

“And how are you planning to get Itumaak up there as well?” Aloth asked dryly.

“Shit.” Sagani bit her lip, eyes darting around the room. “Guess he’ll hafta wait outside ‘til we make it to the ground floor...” She tugged a coil of rope free from a crate. “‘Cause I don’t relish his mood if we haul him up.”

“Yes, that’s probably unwise.” Aloth surveyed the ruined building. “How are we getting in the upper level?”

She flashed him a shit-eating grin. “I’m glad you asked.”

xXx

The reek of stale smoke dragged Tavi back toward consciousness. The throbbing pain in her shoulder finished the job. At first, when she opened her eyes and blinked at the dimly lit stone cell, she didn’t recognize where she was. But as she pushed off the cold floor with tightly bound hands, sending a fresh burst of pain through her probably-dislocated shoulder, she realized she _recognized_ this cell. She’d been inside it, just not as _her_. As Uscgrim.

 _They squirreled me away in the fuckin’ sanitarium_. Tavi shook her head. If she didn’t feel like her skull was doing time as a xaurip war drum she might have laughed at the irony.

“You know, Watcher, I thought it was going to be hard to get our hands on you, but even after sniffing out our trap, Mela says you still walked right into it.” A dark chuckle accentuated the words. “That takes a special kind of either idiocy or arrogance, both of which are rather deadly flaws. As you now see.”

“Gloat all you want,” Tavi shot back, voice rough. “All I’m gonna remember is that it took _six_ of you copperfuckers _ambushing_ me for you to get the upper hand.” She squinted toward the door and the dark haired man on the other side.  “Whoever the fuck you are.”

“Ah, see, Watcher, this is where some care regarding political factions would serve you well,” he said smoothly, deliberately stopping shy of an answer. “But you have cost my house too much, _far_ too much. Danna alone was nearly worth making an example of you. But my father counseled temperance; you bested Danna in a fair fight, by all accounts. Her fiance, too.  But your deceiving and later killing Medreth was finally enough to persuade the old fool you were a threat to our dealings. And now I can exact repayment for all of your... disruptions.”

Tavi narrowed her eyes further. “Doemenels?” The flare for the dramatic was a dead giveaway. “Ah, the skulking ambush makes sense now.”

“Yes, my father prefers we act in the shadows for the more unsavory of our endeavors. To appear respectable. But down here I don’t have to worry about that.” He grinned. “I’ll have to thank my men for being so prompt.”

“Make sure you compensate the one I bit,” she snarked, mind racing. This was a fucking horrible spot for her to be in, especially if the thugs had managed to elude Aloth and Sagani. “And maybe tell him to wash his hands more often. Tasted like a fuckin’ gul.”

“I will be sure to pass along your critiques, seeing as you will soon be incapable of doing so.” His grin was nothing short of malicious.

Brisk footsteps approached, and a voice out of Tavi’s view said, “Your father requires your presence, sir.”

“Of course he does,” Doemenel sighed irritably. He looked back at Tavi. “We’ll have to settle accounts later, then.”

“Sure you wanna do that?” she goaded. “Bein’ linked to the disappearance of the Watcher of Caed Nua’s probably bad for business.”

Doemenel snorted. “No, bad for business is letting someone who’s hurt us as much as you have walk consequence free. People start to think they can do the same, and it complicates things. Besides,” he smiled, “you’re assuming it _will_ be linked to us.”

“Doesn’t make a very good intimidation tactic otherwise,” Tavi muttered under her breath as he walked away. She heard him give muffled instructions--probably about her--to a couple of his men, and then there was silence. She tried moving her hands again, and pain shot through her shoulder. Without being able to see them, there wasn’t too much she could do.

Unless she found a sharp enough edge. Moving was awkward, and would probably make her shoulder hurt worse, but if she could find a stone in the walls or floor that hadn’t been worn smooth, maybe she could at least get her hands free. And that opened several possibilities for fighting back. Tavi grinned and started looking. _How bad for business will it be if you have me and I escape?_

xXx

Sagani’s plan was a good one, but it leaned far more heavily on luck than Aloth liked. It still _worked._  The rubble surrounding the sanitarium was in large enough chunks to provide a decent (literal) stepping stone to close some of the distance between the ground and the second floor. And this part of the sanitarium was wrecked enough they didn’t have to worry about lookouts. Nothing larger than a half-grown orlan could have made it into the destroyed chambers. Sagani instructed Itumaak to wait around back for them and laced her fingers together, looking at Aloth expectantly.

 _This_ was the part he didn’t like. It was also the part he couldn’t argue with. They didn’t know what waited upstairs, so he got to go first. A wizard would have better odds against multiple foes, at least that was Sagani’s reasoning. Aloth didn’t have any better ideas, so he refrained from pointing out it took time to cast spells. Instead he draped the loosely coiled rope over his shoulder so it hung diagonally across his chest, stepped on Sagani’s interlaced hands, and gingerly braced against the exterior wall as she boosted him up. A brief and decidedly graceless scrabble landed him through the hole in the wall on a grtty wood floor. Alone. A heavy ceiling beam had fallen across the door, barring entry or exit. Sighing in a mix of relief and frustration induced by that fact, Aloth uncoiled the rope and looked for somewhere to secure it. There were numerous pieces of heavy furniture to choose from, so that and helping Sagani up weren’t hard.

“You eatin’ enough?” she teased in an undertone as she bundled the rope back up and hung it off her quiver. “Wasn’t nearly as hard gettin’ you up here as I thought it would be.”

Aloth half-smiled and raised an eyebrow as he tied his hair back. There was too much to snag it on even just in this room; the rest of the place was probably worse. “I’m... not sure whether to be offended or not.”

“Then don’t be. We gotta get movin’,” Sagani shrugged, studying the beam that blocked their way and chewing her lip in thought.

“Any idea?” Aloth asked. He had a few spells that could have taken care of the beam, but all of them would make far too much noise.

“Yeah, actually,” Sagani nodded. “If long shots count as ideas.” She dug a vial out of a belt pouch. “Picked this up a few towns ‘fore I joined you lot. _The most deadly poison in my inventory_ , the merchant claimed. Only problem, it looks so corrosive I’m afraid of what it’ll do to my arrows. So I’ve been savin’ it for somethin’ life or death.”

“This qualifies,” Aloth muttered, chewing a hangnail and trying not to think about Tavi. “Can’t hurt to try.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Sagani uncorked the vial and poured it over the beam. The liquid soaked into the wood, but didn’t seem t do much else. Both of them huffed in disappointment, but then Sagani kicked the end resting on the floor and the beam shifted at the corroded part. She grinned at Aloth. “Well...”

They each part an arm under part of the beam and rocked it back and forth, futher damaging the integrity of wood fibers already weakened by the corrosive agent.

“I think it’s a good thing you didn’t put that on your arrows,” Aloth whispered as he felt the weight of the beam shift and tightened his grip. Didn’t want it making too much noise when it snapped.

“Heh, yeah,” Sagani laughed softly. The beam finally broke, jagged splinters standing like forests on either end as they gingerly shifted it away from the door.

Aloth cautiously cracked the door open and peered into the hallway. He didn’t see anyone-

“Son of a moosefucker!” Sagani spat with quiet venom and he jerked his head back into the room.

“I... beg your pardon?” _Tavi’s going to regret missing that one..._

“Sorry.” Sagani winced. “Kallu’s been tellin’ me forever to watch my language,  ‘specially round our kids. Just... haven’t had a reminder in a while, I guess.”

“Do I want to know what happened?” he whispered, glancing out into the hall again. Still clear.

She shrugged. “Let’s just say Najuo may have overheard me tellin’ a joke ‘bout a Glamfellen youth with frostbite somewhere... sensitive.” She coughed. “Kids repeat _everything_. Kallu was not happy with me.”

“No, no, I meant just now.”

“Oh. Just jammed my thumb.” Sagani sucked on the sore digit and glared at the beam. “Nothin’ big.”

“Well, in that case, shall we move on?” Aloth said. “I can see the stairs, and there don’t appear to be any people to worry about on this floor.”

She nodded. “Let’s go.”

xXx

It was a singularly nerve-wracking experience creeping through a building that occasionally creaked and contained an unknown number of enemies. Still, they made it to the back door to retrieve Itumaak without much trouble. Getting down to the ward level, however, promised to be trickier.

Aside from the lookout hovering near the front end of the ruined foyer, two men--one human, one elven--sat at the top of the steps playing cards and occasionally taking a swig from a shared brown bottle. Despite the alcohol and the relaxed posture of all three, they were very aware of their surrounding.

 _No sneaking up on them_ , Aloth acknowledged grimly. How to remove them as a threat quietly and quickly so they didn’t raise a fuss was now the question. Sagani looked equally frustrated, and both of them sat thinking furiously for a minute.

Then it hit him. Fighting down a smug smile, Aloth flipped open his grimoire and paged toward the end of the collected spells. _Where is it?_ He found what he sought and stopped fighting the smile. “If you can take care of the one by the front, I’ll deal with these two.”

Sagani smirked and nocked an arrow. “Consider it done.”

Aloth traced his fingers over the arcane symbols, silently mouthing the recently acquired spell for practice, then nodded to Sagani and strode from the room to cast it for real. He heard the quiet whistle of her arrow, the thump of a body hitting the floor, but was too focused on his own immense relief that he had properly judged the distance and the two men he was targeting froze stiff without a sound.

“Nice,” Sagani chuckled in an appreciative undertone. “Ain’t seen that one before.”

“I just learned it,” Aloth explained, wincing slightly as he watched her efficiently sit the throats of both guards. “From one of the grimoires we found in the Battery. Was that really necessary?”

“Unless that new spell of yours is permanent, yes,” she replied grimly. “I’m not takin’ any chances with the people who _kidnapped_ Tavi.”

“Point,” he conceded, following her down the stairs. “Where do you think they’re keeping her?”

“As far from the stairs as possible.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.” He really hadn’t wanted to think about how far into the wards they might have to go. The place had been unsettling on their first visit. Now it was worse. But they couldn’t leave Tavi in there, so for her sake he would endure.

There was no sign of guards in the researchers’ part of the floor. Aloth still gave Bellasege’s office a wide berth. Sagani shot him a sympathetic look as she ducked in to make sure the office was clear. She returned a few seconds later looking satisfied and carrying Tavi’s sabres, sheathed and bundled up in the belt.

“These’ll probably come in handy,” she whispered.

Aloth nodded as they continued forward. _Hopefully_. “I can take them,” he offered, and Sagani handed them over without a word. They found a guard in one of the other offices, and she dispatched this one as quickly as the ones upstairs.

Despite being underground, the patients’ ward did show signs of the riot’s destruction; strewn with rubble and smeared with dried bloodstains. The door that led to the hall between the main ward and the north ward was broken and jammed together, effectively blocking the way. Aloth and Sagani both hissed quiet curses before backtracking so they could loop down one of the side hallways and around to where they needed. A guard lounged against the doorway to the north ward, but Sagani took him out with a single well-placed arrow,

He jangled slightly as he dropped. Aloth held up a hand so Sagani would wait and felt around the dead man’s belt with his free hand until he found the keyring.

“This should make things easier,” he murmured, tucking them in his own belt as they stepped into the ward. Not that they were terribly complicated; the only cell with its door closed was the one that faced straight down the hallway. “Tavi?”

It wasn’t much more than a whisper, even though there were no more guards (that they knew of). It was still enough. She always had been sharp-eared.

“Aloth!” Tavi’s face appeared in the barred window of the cell, bruises and dried blood trailing across one cheek. Aloth tried not to dwell on the former occupant as he hurried to the door and started sorting through the keys to find the right one. Tavi hand curled around one of the bars, knuckles raw, as she watched. “I dunno whether to yell at you two for puttin’ yourselves in danger comin’ after me or crow that I knew you would, take that, bastard who thought kidnappin’ me would work out.”

“You can do both on the way out,” Aloth said, relieved smile stretching across his face as he found the proper key and fit it in the lock. “And we found your sabres as well.”

Tavi shook her head. “Not gonne do me much fuckin’ good at the moment, city slicker.”

“Why-” He cut himself off as the door swung open and he saw the way her arm was curled in protectively close to her side. The surge of anger curling in his chest must have shown on his face as well, because Tavi cupped her good hand along his jaw to make him look at her.

“Get me outta here,” she whispered fiercely, “an’ you or Iselmyr can rattle off everything you wanna do to these fuckers and I’ll nod along in whole-hearted agreement.”

“...Fine,” Aloth agreed begrudgingly. And then he caught sight of the ugly cuts that marred her wrists and the heels of her hands. “ _Tavi_.”

“Those I did to myself,” she admitted. “Sawin’ though the fuckin’ rope. Seriously, Aloth, let’s _**go**_. I wanna get out of here before anyone finds whatever you two did to the guards.”

That was an excellent plan, and one he couldn’t argue, so Aloth simply nodded and firmly but gently grasped her hand in his as they headed down the hall. _I’m not letting you out of my sight._

Tavi only made it a few steps before she hissed in pain. “ _Shit_.” She shook her head when Aloth shot her a concerned look. “Think I broke a rib. Or two. I can--ow! _ **Fucking**_ shit--I can manage.”

Aloth didn’t contradict her, just pulled her closer so he could wrap his arm around her waist for added support. “I’m very glad you’re mostly alright, please don’t make it worse trying to be strong or some nonsense like that.”

She laughed and then winced, briefly leaning more against him. “Shit, Corfiser, don’t make me laugh right now.”

“Sorry.” They were drawing closer to the stairs, anyway, so silence was probably wise for more reasons than not causing her pain. (Though that on its own was plenty sufficient for him.) Much to their collective relief, there were no new arrivals when they made it up the stairs. Just the two dead guards, the petrification spell worn off and their bodies sprawled to the sides. Sagani shot Aloth a significant look, but didn’t say anything.

They headed for the back door. Yes, that came with higher odds of being caught, but there was no way Tavi could handle another flight of stairs, let alone navigate the rubble-cluttered second floor.

“We really need to move it,” Tavi hissed as they ducked under a partially fallen beam on the way to the staff entrance. “Someone in the Doemenel family is _really_ fuckin’ pissed at me, and me escapin’--’specially _hur_ t--is gonna be so very bad for business. He was gonna--ow!--make an example of me or some shit like that.”

Aloth thought of the note Sagani had found. “Abrecan?”

“Maybe?” Tavi shrugged vaguely. “All I know is he had the eyes of someone I don’t want anywhere near me unless I’m armed and uninjured.”

“Well, then, let’s _go_ ,” Sagani urged, pushing open the door. Itumaak bristled, but no one was lying in wait.

Aloth sighed in relief and felt Tavi relax as well, but they still put some distance between them and Brackenbury before truly letting their guard down.

“Can we... stop for a minute?” Tavi asked breathlessly.

“Of course.” Aloth helped her to one of the benches that dotted the streets. She sank onto it a little too quickly and he heard her whimper. “Tavi?”

“Mm.” A pained breath hissed between clenched teeth.

“ _ **Tavi.**_ ” He went to one knee in front of her, cupping her face in his hands so she’d look at him. “Is there anything you’re not telling us?”

She gave barest glimmer of a wry smile and shook her head. “Nah, city slicker. The shoulder-ribs injury combination just hurts like fuckin’ Hel, and I need a break.”

“Good.” He must have still looked worried, because she rested her good hand over one of his. “As I’ve said, I can’t...”

“I know.” She rested her forehead against his. “You didn’t.”

“Y’know, if you two wanna kiss without an audience, I can pretend I saw an interestin’ bird or somethin’,” Sagani interjected, voice rife with amusement.

“Shit, ‘Gani, I’ve never cared about _audiences_ ,” Tavi shot back, her hand moving to the back of Aloth’s neck and pulling him into a kiss. “Thanks for the rescue,” she whispered.

Aloth smiled. “You’re very welcome,” he murmured, before kissing her back.  “Sagani did help, you know. A lot.”

“Nice to be appreciated,” Sagani said glibly, tossing Itumaak a piece of jerky when he butted his head against her leg.

Tavi smirked, sitting upright once more. “I’ll appreciate you two even more if you get me the fuck back to Keya.”

“Right away,” Aloth nodded as he stood, helping her back to her feet and supporting her as they made their way back to Copperlane.

xXx

It took her awhile to get to sleep that night. The Doemenels were something of a power in the city, even more now with the duc dead, and Tavi couldn’t help worrying they would try to get her again and hurt her friends in the process. But the fatigue finally won, and she drifted off propped against several pillows to make it easier on her bruised-but-not-broken ribs. (Her shoulder hadn’t been actually dislocated, either, which was a huge relief.) Aloth had sat with her as she tried to get to sleep, fingers interwoven with hers, his thumb rubbing over the bandages Keya had wrapped around her hands. His presence was calming, and Tavi felt the nerves slowly uncoil at the steady cadence of his breathing.

She was safe. Her friends were safe. And the Goose and Fox was a good deal more public than that hovel they’d grabbed her from before. _You can relax, Tavi._ The voice was in her head, but sounded an awful lot like the wizard sitting with his arm around her shoulders.

It was also right, she conceded, shifting slightly to the side and curling up against Aloth. She fell asleep with his heartbeat in her ear and his hand still clasped with hers. 


End file.
